A diving machine on a new construction [graphic].

[London] : Pubd. May 31, by T. Rowlandson, N. 1, James St., Adelphi, [31 May 1806]

1 print : etching ; sheet 24.1 x 35 cm

wove paper

From a collection in fourteen volumes compiled by Francis Harvey and dispersed at auction, Sotheby, London, June 1900. Sold at Sotheby, London, 12 March 1919. Bequest of Hugh Dudley Auchincloss to Yale University Library, 1981. Bound by Riviere & Son in three-quarters red morocco with gold tooling and gold lettering on spine.

"Fox, in a diver's dress which leaves his face and hands bare, stands on the bed of the ocean, speaking, through a tube inscribed 'Haul up', to his assistants in a boat; these haul on a pulley attached to the mast of the boat, but cut off by the upper margin. Fox has fastened the rope to a chest inscribed '10 Per Cent'; this, with an anchor inscribed 'Pig Iron' and three barrels, one inscribed 'Beer Tax', lies on the ocean bed. He turns his back on the dead body of John Bull, lying on his back, beside the wrecked hull of the 'Constitution Cutter - John Bull commander (whose cargo he is seizing); only the top of the mast projects above the surface of the 'Ocean of Taxation'; on this a carrion bird perches, another flies towards it. The boat from which Fox has descended is 'The Experiment'; in it are salvaged money-bags inscribed '10 Pr Cent'; its crew are (l. to r.), Windham (?), Sheridan, Erskine, and Petty."--British Museum online catalogue.

English

June 28, 2016